During my Deaf studies, talking about Deaf Education was a very popular topic. My teachers had always underlined the importance of Sign Language in schools, especially concerning Deaf children.
I really care about kids and those topics touch my heart.
Personally, I think they are our future. We can build a better world and correct the mistakes we made in the past through them. In this way, we can all be better, doesn’t matter if Deaf or Hearing.
Those are some of the reasons why I think the education is the most important thing, especially in a child’s life.
So, what about the education of Deaf children? How different countries decided to take care of them?
This world is a Hearing world.
We live in a world full of sounds, music, words.
Therefore, a Deaf person could found adversities in every field.
Just imagine you want to grab that cup of coffee before heading to work.
Or maybe you just got lost in the new city you are sightseeing.
In every single action you need to speak.
Currently, more than 70 million of people are Deaf and only a very small percentage of them has access to education. There could be many reasons, but just take a look at few of them.
For a Deaf kid (and for Deaf people in general) it’s difficult to get involved in different social events, concerts, shows or parties.
For Hearing people, those are unique situations in which we can grow, and consequently we can get better in our communicative skills.
Let’s get this clear..
A Deaf student needs a dedicated education and most school (unfortunately) aren’t able to provide it. Let’s take a classroom as example, in which out of 25 children, only one is Deaf. The school can provide the best side teaching ever, however during group activities he (or she) will be lonely, not getting involved with other peers and not making any friend.
If the child is not talking to anyone at school, would he (or she) be able to communicate outside school?
This lead to the fact that being Deaf is considered a social disability, which means not being able to get involved in social events to improve.
Deaf students need Sign Language in order to learn. Instead of listening, they need pictures. Interprets also play an import role as they are the link between the Hearing and the Deaf world.
Most importantly, they need to interact with other Deaf people.
For those reasons I think it’s important to build a new scholar system and include Deaf people as well. This way, Hearing people will have a different opinion on being Deaf and later will hopefully understand Deaf people can do anything – except hearing.
Unable to follow the school program, a lot of Deaf students decided to drop out of school. As a consequence, 39% (!!) of the entire Deaf population has no access to an higher education. Most of the time a random primary school is what they live with.
What is Language Deprivation?
If you have no access to school or to a general education, you are more likely to be exposed to the Language Deprivation phenomenon.
I had no idea about what that was, but then I watched this video and I immediately understood.
When we are 0 to 5 years old, our brain is able to form more than 700 neural connections every second! That’s the exact moment where we learn the most. Our parents communicate with us through (Sign) Language and we keep learning this way.
… Without a language we can’t even develop ideas and thoughts.
Sadly, this happened to Patrick, a 15 year old Deaf boy living in Uganda.
In his village, he’s the only Deaf person and nobody had ever talked to him. Not with Sign Language nor Spoken Language. Even if his father is taking care of him, he’s not able to develop a language himself and he’s trapped in his own mind.
Hopefully, some miles away a Sign Language course is held and Patrick has the opportunity to join in. Students attending class are any ages: children, teenagers and even a 85 years old woman!
After 10 weeks, Patrick is able to communicate, make friends and finally smiling thanks to Sign Language.
The video is very touching, if you even seen it please take a look now!
Who said Sign Language is not important?
Communities are fundamental in our lives, and the same applies to Deaf communities. People bond together in schools and most of the time friends become a real family.
Let’s take as example a well know school for Deaf in Thailand, called Khon Kaen School. Is a boarding school, which means students actually study, sleep and live there.
This kind of school is helpful for many kids, especially for those who live far away from the city. It’s convenient for Hearing families with Deaf children too, because that way parents know their children are in a safe environment where they can grow and learn.
Families are happy they can provide a good education, and children are happy they have a dedicated school. It’s a double win, right?
Recently, I wrote a blog post about Sign Language in Haiti. There, I mentioned a few Youtube videos about Deaf communities.
One of them was about Closed Caption. Every country has a different way to deal with it and I since I don’t watch that much TV I can’t have a strong opinion. What I know is that in my country, Italy, it’s very difficult to find a TV program with CC. It’s almost impossible! Some people say they ruin a show or program, whatever.
Personally, I found them very useful. If you study a language, you can watch movies in that language and improve your vocabulary. Especially in English, which is spoken worldwide and most movies are in English, you need subtitles.
For instance, if you would watch this video, without any knowledge of Sign Language, would you be able to understand something?
Are all Deaf people accepted?
Remember what I said in the very beginning? That more than 70 million people are Deaf in the world?
Well, the 80% of them live in the so called “Third Word” countries.
There, not everyone has access to school or work. Society does not accept them and sometimes not even their own families.
That’s what a group of Deaf women is experiencing in Ghana.
Some of them were born Deaf while other were born Hearing but because of diseases and infections became Deaf.
Unfortunately, most of them don’t know how to write or read.
They have been oppressed by their own families and they decided to leave their homes and live together in the community.
All of them complain about not being able to join in a conversation and they are trying to teach themselves some grammar as well.
Isn’t it sad to think some people will never have access to a primary education?
What about Kenya?
In Kenya, it’s slightly different. You can find many schools for Deaf there, starting from kindergarten till University. Isn’t that amazing?!
They face being Deaf in a more positive way.
Professor Ndurumo is the first Deaf professor in East Africa.
He traveled to USA and there he met a lot of Deaf teachers and professors. Finally, he realized he could be anything that he wanted. Nothing could stop him.
This is what we need to teach to our children and especially Deaf children. Being Deaf is not an obstacle and, most importantly, shouldn’t be used as an excuse for failing.
Maybe some students decided to drop out of school because they are Deaf. Therefore, they felt they were not good enough.
We have to stop this kind of thoughts as soon as they arise because they simply are not true.
A Deaf person can achieve anything he (or she) wants in life! There will be some hard times but those moments of weakness need to teach us how to overcome our fears and barriers.
There is still a chance!
If children have the opportunity to change this world, then we still have a chance!
The only thing that needs to be done is to ensure everyone has fair rights.
Every child must be able to read, write and count. If we want to build a new world where everyone has those abilities, then it’s time for us to start rising awareness.
Have you ever watched “A quiet place”? If not, you should totally watch it!
The main actress is Deaf and in the movie the whole family had to learn Sign Language to communicate with her. This has an huge impact an the public. For many people, that could be the very first time they got in touch with Sign Language.
If I didn’t have Sign Language while growing up, I’d never have gotten the role in Wonderstruck
– Millicent Simmonds
This is the reason why she supports with pride her community and Sign Language. Knowing that not every child has the opportunity to learn is heartbreaking for everyone.
Through education we can overcome all kind of difficulties, keep learning and improving.
I can’t say how thankful I am for finding my path in this magical world. I’m loving every side of it and the more I get involved, the more I want to study and learn.
Have you ever feel this way? Maybe this is what passion feels like!
Did some of you knew about Deaf education? And why do you think some countries simply decided to ignore them?
Let me know in the comment box!
Love,
Sonia
